


Endlessly

by its_too_cliche_24



Series: Song Fics [7]
Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Episode Related, Happy Ending, Light Angst, M/M, Post-Ascension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-31
Updated: 2020-08-31
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:20:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,494
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26205586
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/its_too_cliche_24/pseuds/its_too_cliche_24
Summary: And there's no guaranteeThat this will be easyIt's not a miracle ya need, believe meYeah, I'm no angel, I'm just meBut I will love you endlesslyWings aren't what you need, you need meSecond Part to Angel With A Shotgun, from Jack's perspective.
Relationships: Daniel Jackson/Jack O'Neill
Series: Song Fics [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1240199
Kudos: 11





	Endlessly

**Author's Note:**

> Aaand, here's part two!  
> Happy International JackDaniels Day everyone! 😉😄
> 
> As usual, I do not own the song or the characters, just the fic.  
> Enjoy!

_”I love you too, Jack.”_

_”Daniel, wait!”_

Jack woke with a start, panicked and out of breath.

Abydos.

Anubis.

Daniel.

Everything still rattled around in his mind, refusing to let him rest. SG1 made it off Abydos relatively unscathed, but everyone else… Skaara didn’t even get to have his wedding. An entire planet, gone.

Clenching his fists, Jack got up and headed to the kitchen, acknowledging that his mind wasn’t going to let him sleep anymore that night. The clock on the oven told him it was 4 in the morning. That wasn’t too bad, considering all of his restless nights before. Still, if he wanted to survive another day, he’d need coffee. With a yawn, he got the coffee out, changed the filter, and waited tiredly for the water to heat.

His mind began wandering again, back to where he tried so hard to keep it from going. Daniel. Jack’s fingers tapped on the counter absentmindedly. Daniel...loved him.

_”I love you too, Jack.”_

And despite how much he fought it, how hard he tried to bury his emotions, Daniel knew Jack loved him too.

He couldn’t help but grin at the thought - him and Daniel, together.

The coffeepot sputtered to a stop, and the smile fell off Jack’s face. He grabbed his mug from the cupboard and slammed it shut, rattling the rest of the dishes inside. It didn’t matter if they both loved each other, what kind of life could they possibly have? They weren’t even on a team anymore, hell, they weren’t even on the same _plane of existence!_ And Jack might not have the little handy dandy rulebook The Others were sticklers for, but he was pretty sure that having a relationship with a little human like him was a no go. Besides, if Daniel wanted him, loved him enough to leave, then he would be here.

And he wasn’t.

Jack poured the coffee.

~~~

The way Jonas went on and on about gate addresses and The Lost City made Jack wonder if he could ever drink enough coffee to make him mellow enough to deal with him. The kid was nice, sure, but if Jack wanted to deal with someone over excited, loud, and slightly obnoxious all day, he would probably just get a dog.

Not that he didn’t appreciate him stepping up to the plate and joining the team, and even cracking the code on the Ancient’s tablet, he was just exhausted.

And if anyone asked him, he’d say that’s why he was grumpy when they went to the planet, the supposed “City of the Lost”. Yeah he was glad they’d gotten a little clue, but he just wanted to be done.

One of the natives pointed at Teal’c. “He is Jaffa.”

“No, but he plays on one TV,” Jack responded tiredly. He heard Carter and Jonas muffle their laughter behind him.

He half paid attention to the rest of the conversation, something about them being travellers too, yadda yadda yadda. Other than getting in a metaphor battle with one of the elders, it’d been pretty uneventful.

“Colonel!” someone shouted behind him. Jack turned, and saw the other SG team walk up. They looked, concerned and confused.

“Pierce?” Jack asked as he knit his eyebrows.

“We found something you might want to see.”

Before Jack could ask anything more, they moved aside and -

“Daniel?” Jack whispered.

He was covered in blue robes, similar to what the natives had on. The color did wonders for his eyes, but his expression was cold. Jack glanced away guiltily. Daniel looked mad, and it could only mean he blamed Jack for his current state, maybe he even regretted telling him he loved him.

“Arrom,” the native beside him corrected.

“Arrom?” Jack asked, confused.

Daniel squinted their way, in what looked like confusion, but Jack wasn’t sure.

“It’s what we call him,” he shrugged, as someone else said, “it means naked one!”

Jack cleared his throat, willing the sudden flush of color blossoming on his cheeks to fade quickly. Apparently Daniel made quite an impression on these people.

“That’s how we found him in the forest, two moons ago.”

“Seems like he doesn’t remember who he is.” Pierce added, glancing Jack’s way.

No…

“Daniel?” Carter said gently, smiling at him as she approached, “It’s okay, it’s me, Sa-”

She reached her hand up to touch his shoulder, and he stopped her. Taken aback, she put her hand down. It wasn’t Daniel’s fault, and Jack could see Carter struggle not to look hurt.

“Do you not recognize us, DanielJackson?” Teal’c asked, taking a cautious step in his direction.

Taking an involuntary step back, Daniel shook his head, looking overwhelmed and torn. Scared.

“I-I don’t. I’m sorry,” he said, suddenly walking briskly past them. He kept his head down, so he didn’t have to look at anyone as he passed.

Honestly, Jack would rather Daniel just be mad at him. To not remember anything? Everything they’d been through, everything they’d learned about each other, gone.

Daniel brushed by Jack, headed to a nearby tent. The proximity, of being close to Daniel and knowing he was actually here in the full physical sense, took Jack’s breath away.

But of course nothing came from Daniel’s side, and he swept into his tent.

“Not even me?” Jack called after him.

The tent entrance didn’t move. Carter stopped next to him.

“You should go in and talk to him.”

Jack barked a laugh and turned roughly in the other direction.

“And say what, exactly?”

“I don’t know,” she shrugged, but her expression remained determined. “We have to try something though. We’ve gotta take him home.”

~~~

Exhaling slowly, Jack took a brief moment for himself before pushing open the tent entrance.

“Please leave me alone,” Daniel said quietly, looking down at the ground.

Faltering in his gait, Jack had to remind himself of the simple fact that Daniel didn’t remember who they were, otherwise he wouldn’t be acting like this. Maybe. As much as it hurt, it was their job to help him remember now. Shooting Daniel a friendly grin that covered up as much heartache as he could hide, Jack plopped down in front of him.

"I'm Jack O'Neill. And, barring some freakish similarity, you are Dr. Daniel Jackson."

Immediately Daniel began shaking his head no. “This tent is all I know. These people, they're all I know. Before I woke up in the forest,” he broke off voice strangled, “I don't remember anything. I've tried, I've tried to remember who I was before. Sometimes I think it's right there, floating in front of me, and all I have to do is reach out and grab it. I try... and it's gone."

He looked up in desperation, meeting Jack’s eyes. They were so blue, and so lost.

“You were a member of my team, SG1,” Jack tried, “You were a friend of mine, my best friend, actually.”

Daniel glanced away.

“Last year, you died.”

He whipped his head back, and snorted in disbelief.

“I’m dead?” He repeated, voice heavy with sarcasm.

Hey, that was supposed to be _his_ department! Jack rolled his eyes, forgetting that this wasn’t normal bantering with Daniel for a moment. It was so easy to forget, but at the same time impossible.

Jack did his best to explain what had happened to Daniel in the last year, but Daniel didn’t seem to buy it. No that he blamed him, it sounded so outlandish to Jack even as he described it. Technically dying, but having your energy bouncing around on different planes and abiding the rules of more energy balls? Sounded like a bad sci-fi movie Teal’c would make him watch.

“But why am I _here?_ ” Daniel asked, irritated.

“Hey, why are any of us here?” Jack joked.

Daniel glared back.

_”Okay, not in a joking mood,”_ Jack acknowledged with a cringe.

“Honestly, I don’t know. But you've gotta trust me - you are Daniel Jackson. Think of it this way: out of all the planets in the galaxy, why this one if not for us to find you?" Jack gestured around him.

He’d hoped channeling a little of Daniel’s philosophical outlooks would trigger something in him, but instead he just got another skeptical frown.

“So you’re saying a higher power had a hand in putting me here?”

Maybe. Maybe Oma Desala was a little more clever than Jack gave her credit for.

“I don’t know, that was usually your department,” he answered honestly. Hearing his theories would only confuse Daniel more.

They were quiet for a moment. With a shiver, Daniel wrapped his robes tighter around himself.

“Is it...supposed to feel this cold?” he asked quietly.

Jack cocked his head to the side. “What?”

Shaking his head again, Daniel wrapped himself tighter. Jack kicked himself. The first time he really instigated anything in their conversation, and Jack shut him down. No wonder he left in the first place.

“I feel empty. All the time.” Daniel explained after a moment of silence. He looked back at Jack, “is this how it was before?”

Jack wasn’t sure. Daniel hid everything so well. Sometimes you thought he was an open book, and then he turned around and did something you’d never expect. Hearing him be so open and vulnerable now was something Jack never thought he’d experience. It scared him. Maybe Daniel had always felt this way, and thought ascending would finally make him feel whole. Unless...coming back, having his new enlightened energy state stripped away, took more from him than just his memories.

This _had_ to be his fault. Back when Ba’al imprisoned him, he pushed Daniel so hard to do something, rules be damned. And now that he had, he’d been kicked out, banished. It didn’t matter that it happened later, after the incident with Ba’al. If Jack hadn’t pushed so hard, maybe the idea of interfering wouldn’t have crossed Daniel’s mind at all.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know,” Jack said hoarsely.

Daniel nodded, like he’d expected as much. They sat there for several minutes in a loaded silence. Once it was clear to Jack that Daniel was done talking, he got up and headed for the entrance. But before he could leave, he stopped. His hand hovered just in front of the curtain separating them from the outside world.

“Do you...remember what you said to me? The last time we talked?” Jack asked, refusing to turn around.

It was a long shot, Jack knew that. If Daniel remembered anything, he would’ve said something.

“I don’t.” Daniel answered, resigned. Jack nodded.

“I didn’t think so.”

Once Jack left the tent, he shared his less than exciting news with Carter. She grimaced when he shared his idea that descending left Daniel hollow, and they might have a bit of a problem on their hands.

“I’ll give it a shot,” Carter promised, squeezing Jack’s arm as she left to talk to Daniel.

He watched the curtain swish open and closed, and kept his eye on it long after it stopped moving. Looked like it was just him and the natives now, left to chat with the village elder about a dog and some dancing monkeys.

Luckily, Carter wasn’t long talking to Daniel. As soon as she walked out, Jack immediately latched on to her, ready to go. They chatted some more, mostly discussing how long it would take to explore the ruins - boring.

“What of DanielJackson?” Teal’c asked, raising an accusing eyebrow in Jack’s direction.

Jack raised his hands defensively, mouthing an offended _”what??”_ back at the big guy.

“He’s going home,” A quiet but determined voice came from behind him.

Jack, Teal’c, and Carter exchanged huge grins as subtly as they could. Their boy was coming home.

~~~

Of course it wasn’t as easy as Daniel simply walking back through the gate and immediately remembering everything as soon as he saw the SGC. However, he seemed to be in better spirits when he was surrounded by the people who knew him. Or at least, told him they knew him. As time went on, he started acting more and more like the Daniel Jackson they knew and loved. Pretty much.

Personal relationships were still a bit awkward. No one knew how you were supposed to interact with an old buddy of yours who lost all his memories, other than being as friendly to him as possible. Especially Jack. How were you supposed to interact with someone you loved who died - ascended - told you they loved you, _descended_ and lost all their memories of you completely?

The whole thing was laughable. But at the same time, it was so them, wasn’t it?

And of course life refused to slow down enough to give either of them a chance to figure out what to do. No, now they were too busy trying to pull off this elaborate plan Carter cooked up. Jack couldn’t complain too much, it's not like he wanted life to stall so he could stress about Daniel 24/7, because he knew if they had nothing to do but sit and twiddle their thumbs, he’d be complaining about that too.

It took Jack a moment to realize this was one of the only times he’d been alone with Daniel since they’d walked through the gate, as they stood in the locker room gearing up. It was time to set Carter’s plan in motion, not worry about Daniel’s memory.

“That’s your son,” Daniel observed, a slight question in his voice.

Jack stiffened. Not exactly something he’d expected to come out of Daniel’s mouth. But it was bound to happen, he had to start remembering somewhere.

“Yeah,” Jack nodded, not looking at Daniel as he put things back in his locker.

“Charlie...” Daniel continued, struggling to remember, “he’s why I know you. You took that first mission to Abydos because you thought it’d be…..suicide.”

He could hear Daniel’s regret that he finished the sentence, the cringe that he’d actually said that at all.

Jack looked Daniel in the eyes.

“Things change,” he said evenly.

They had. Back then, Jack thought he had nothing to live for, no one to miss him. His son, his failing marriage, it was all he had. But now he had his team, Daniel. He wouldn’t leave them.

“Sorry,” Daniel apologized.

“You sure you’re ready for this?” Jack asked nonchalantly.

It was just like Daniel to throw himself into a dangerous mission when he hardly knew what was going on. And yeah, you could call Jack selfish, but he didn’t want Daniel to go somewhere where he could get hurt.

There was no way he'd lose him again.

"Yeah, well, despite what you say... I don't think you'd be doing this if it wasn't worth doing."

"Well, you obviously don't remember everything. You never used to follow my lead." Jack chuckled as he shut his locker and began walking to the exit.

“I didn’t?” Daniel mused to himself.

Jack pushed open the door a little, but he heard Daniel jump up, and he turned back around.

“Hey, uh, I may not remember everything, but I, uh,” he hesitated, and Jack inclined his head quizzically.

“I remember enough.”

He held his gaze for a moment, longer than what was probably deemed normal. What did he mean, “enough”? Did he remember what he said to Jack after all?

“Good,” Jack nodded, turning away.

He could practically hear Daniel deflate from across the room. This was exactly what he did last time, before Daniel ascended, when he’d fought his feelings so hard he ended up pushing Daniel away too. He wasn’t going down that road again.

“I’m sorry,” Jack said, turning back around.

Daniel tilted his head in question.

“It’s...it’s my fault you’re here. You stayed with me when Ba’al tortured me, and I pushed you to break the rules and save me. I don’t know if you helped me escape or if it really was all thanks to everyone here, but when you broke the rules to save Abydos - if I hadn’t pushed you so hard,” Jack looked away from Daniel’s piercing eyes.

“Jack,” Daniel whispered, taking a step closer.

“You said you feel empty now. I-I think it’s because you’re not, you know, hanging out in good ole Age of Enlightenment-ville anymore and it’s my fault.” Jack continued, holding a hand up.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Daniel start shaking his head.

“I pushed you away before you ascended, I pushed you while you _were_ ascended, I just keep pushing you and I’m afraid I’m gonna lose you,” Jack said, desperate.

Suddenly, Daniel was grabbing Jack's hands, pulling them into him. They were so close, Jack was intoxicated with him. None of that mattered right now though, he had to stay focused. Focused and stop thinking about how much he wanted him -

“You’re not gonna lose me,” Daniel pleaded, dropping one of Jack’s hands to reach up to hold Jack’s face, “not again.”

Jack started to shake his head, but Daniel brought his other hand up and put it on the other side of Jack’s face, stilling him. Suddenly puzzled, Daniel softly stroked Jack’s cheek with the pad of his thumb. It was impossible to keep the blush off of his face, and his cheeks turned a deep shade of red.

“What are you,” Jack began, unable to finish his sentence completely.

Suddenly dry, Jack licked his lips in an attempt to get some moisture back. Daniel’s gaze dropped to his mouth. Bad choice, very bad choice on his part. A shade rivalling his own colored Daniel’s cheeks, and he dropped his hands and took a step back.

“I don’t feel empty when I’m with you,” Daniel said softly, stuffing his hands in his pockets, “it’s like a part of me needs to be with you, as... insane as that sounds.”

Jack's mouth fell open. Daniel still loved him. Memory loss or not, he _still loved Jack!_

Bursting into giddy laughter, Jack closed the gap between them again. This time he reached up, cradling Daniel’s face in his hands. Loving the gasp he let out as soon as Jack touched him.

“The last thing you said to me before you ran off to fight Anubis was _’I love you too’_ ,” Jack smiled.

Daniel reached up and held Jack’s hand against his cheek. He squeezed his eyes shut and leaned into Jack's touch.

“I remember,” he laughed, nodding vehemently, “I remember you, I remember loving you so much.”

His eyes opened, filled to the brim with joyful tears. Leaning in, Jack pressed his forehead against Daniel’s. Daniel drew him in closer, holding his waist tight. Their noses bumped, and they laughed.

“I really want to kiss you,” Jack admitted.

Daniel pulled his head back in surprise. For a moment Jack thought he’d gone too far too fast, and he dropped his hands to Daniel’s arms. Scrutinizing Jack, Daniel looked for some sign that this was all a joke to him. But it wasn’t. Daniel’s grip tightened around Jack’s waist.

“So kiss me,” Daniel whispered, face flushed red.

Jack cupped Daniel’s cheek with one hand and the side of his neck with the other, and pressed his lips into his. Time slowed, and it felt like they were the only people in the whole damn SGC.

Daniel’s lips were soft, softer than he’d ever imagined they would be. The kiss deepend with a fervent intensity. Hands slid up Jack's chest and grabbed his shirt, pulling him closer into Daniel's body. For balance, Jack pushed his thigh between Daniel's legs, pinning him to the wall.

Their kiss broke momentarily as a moan escaped Daniel's lips. Before Jack pulled away completely, Daniel came back down and devoured Jack's mouth.

Another moment passed, and they broke apart, both breathing heavily.

"We should probably go," Daniel murmured against Jack's lips.

As much as he hated the thought of leaving, especially now, he reluctantly agreed.

"Of course we figure all this out before going on this wackadoo mission to save the world," Jack shook his head, drawing a breathy laugh out of Daniel.

He knew they had to go, but he couldn't stop himself from gently stroking Daniel's cheek with the back of his hand.

"Seems like us," Daniel mused, smirked up at Jack.

Jack brought one of Daniel's hands to his mouth and pressed feathery kisses on them.

"Come back to me, okay?" Jack begged, squeezing Daniel's hand once.

Daniel squeezed back. "Only if you come back to me, too."

With a grin, Jack stepped back. They still had to go out, pretend to be Jack and Daniel (or Jim and Daniel, depending on how long it'd take Carter to forget that little gem) - just friends and nothing more. It wouldn't be easy, but definitely easier now that they were on the same plane. And he would take difficulty over nothing at all. Especially now that Daniel _remembered_! Not everything, but like he said.

Enough.


End file.
